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I love planning a tea party, and spring is a splendid time to host one, especially an Easter Tea Party! Everywhere you look, new life abounds – green grass, flowering buds on trees, and early spring flowers of crocus, daffodils, grape hyacinth, and tulips. And who doesn’t love seeing new animal babies on the farm? It’s a wonderful time of year, and a perfect time to enjoy a cup of tea with friends or family.
Whether Easter lands in March or April, the weather is usually still cool enough to allow for plenty of hot tea inside, but if you live in a milder climate, you might consider hosting your party outdoors. Probably not here in windy Kansas, however, unless you cross your fingers and hold your tongue just right. But that’s okay, because it’s easy to plan a tea party inside.
For me, a large percent of the joy in hosting a tea party (probably as much as 75%) is in the planning, so here are a few ideas to help you get started. See my downloadable Tea Party Checklist Here.
Decorations for an Easter Tea
When it comes to decorations for your Easter Tea, pastels are a great option, as is a simple blue and white décor, which is what I chose last year for a small tea party with my daughters, or Tea for Three! Consider Easter figurines to brighten your table, such as baby chicks, bunnies, decorated eggs, and baskets.
Set a vase of flowers on the table as a centerpiece. As mentioned above, fresh flowers such as daffodils, crocus, and tulips are all great choices for Easter, and may be found right in your own back yard! But if not, you can easily put together a bunch of artificial flowers to go with your table colors. I love shopping at Hobby Lobby for silk flowers. Always remember to check for their 50% flower sales, which occur every other week, or use their weekly 40% coupon.
Dishes and Tableware
When choosing the dishes for your table, anything goes. If you’ll notice in my pictures, I’ve paired Blue Willow dinnerware with Mikasa Antique White plates for the main table settings. To this, I’ve added accents of blue and white chicken napkin rings to hold the linen napkins along with blue Depression glass goblets, and Spode Blue Italian utensils and dishes. It’s always fun to mix and match your dishes at a tea party.
Another option is to use pretty disposable plates and napkins for your party. Right now, you should be able to find Easter patterns or go with a simple pastel option. See a lovely option for paper Tea Party Ware on Amazon Here. If you shop at Walmart, their Pioneer Woman line has lovely “Blooming Floral” tableware options that are perfect for Easter.
Planning the Easter Tea Menu
For my menu at last year’s Easter tea, I chose recipes that my daughters enjoy. And because this was Tea for Three, I kept my menu fairly simple. Our youngest daughter, Abbey, made these sweet egg-shaped Easter Menu keepsakes for us. She is always so crafty, but you can make your own, or find similar items (although maybe not as special) on Etsy or even Amazon. Simply search for Tea Party Menus or Decorations.
Savory Selections
Egg Salad and Curried Chicken Tea Sandwiches are my two most requested savory recipes by our daughters. And what’s more perfect for Easter than egg salad! If possible, always try to garnish the sandwiches with fresh herbs or thinly sliced vegetables for added eye-appeal.
If you have a recipe for Scotch Eggs, that would be another great egg recipe. Or even Deviled Eggs on a platter.
Ham is also a great choice for an Easter tea party, as many home cooks serve ham for their Easter dinner. When it comes to tea party savories, Ham Salad Tea Sandwiches are one of my favorites. Sort of like a deviled ham salad with onion, celery, and pimento. Serve on thin slices of wheat or rye bread or spread thick on snack crackers.
Scones
My daughters love English scones, so again, I kept things simple and served their favorite. Be sure to serve with the scones, Clotted Cream, Lemon Curd, and your favorite strawberry jam. So yummy! If you’d like more ideas, see more Scone Recipes Here.
Since it’s Easter, you might consider serving Hot Cross Buns for your afternoon tea. Studded with raisins (or black currants) and lightly sweetened with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, they provide a tasty and special treat on your holiday table.
Sweet Desserts
When selecting the sweets for my Easter tea, I chose old and new recipes I wanted to work on. Lemon is a perfect choice for spring desserts, and yellow goes well with the blue tablescape I had planned.
Color is something people may not even consider when planning a menu, but I am here to tell you that it does make a difference. You always want the food you make to look pretty on the dishes you serve them on. Believe me, nothing is as disappointing than to work hours on a recipe only to have it look bland on the serving plate. I’m a recipe blogger, and I’ve been down this road too often. So take a few moments to think about such things.
The tart lemony glaze wraps this Glazed Lemon Pound Cake in a bow (you might say) and is overall a quite delightful taste sensation!
Glazed Lemon Madeleines are simply delightful to serve at your next tea party or possibly a Mother’s Day Brunch. Small bite-sized sponge cakes topped with a zesty lemon glaze. They’re adorable. Sweet. And delicious.
Named after a favorite candy confection, these little Lemon Drop Tea Cookies make a wonderful teatime treat. Melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness, with the perfect amount of lemony sweetness.
You might also consider these sweet Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Eggs for your Easter celebration. They are simple to make and similar in taste to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Kid’s of all ages love them, plus they can help make them at home!
Special Desserts – Fourth Course
If you’re looking for a special dessert to serve at your Easter Tea, you might consider one of these show stopper cakes – a Strawberry Fraisier Cake or Battenburg Cake with Homemade Marzipan. Either of these would be perfect for a spring celebration.
With a Genoise Sponge Cake as its base, it’s filled with strawberries and Cremè Mousseline, then topped with a lovely strawberry compote, Strawberry Fraisier Cake is an amazing dessert to treat your guests.
Battenburg Cake with Homemade Marzipan might possibly be my very favorite tea cake to date! Flavored with almond and strawberry, the checkerboard cake is then blanketed in homemade marzipan, holding everything together with yummy deliciousness.
Last-Minute Tea Party Options
All of these planning tips are lots of fun, but what if you don’t have time to make such decisions? Afterall, Easter is next week, right? For those of you who might ask this question, do not worry. It’s never too late to plan a tea party!
Recommended Store-Bought Tea Foods
While it’s always best to start planning your tea weeks in advance, I can always find small tea cookies and treats at our local Walmart or grocery store. And if you have access to an Aldi Grocery, they have wonderful selections for a tea party.
Whenever I have a chance to shop at Aldi, I always try to grab a few items to have on hand for a last-minute tea with our daughters or friends. These can be stored in our pantry or wrapped and frozen for longer storage time. It’s something I highly recommend doing if you enjoy tea.
Some of these tea party items may be seasonal, but right now Aldi offers a plethora of chocolate Easter candies, as well as frozen products such as mini quiche, puff pastry bites, mini cheesecakes, chocolate lava cakes, and even macarons!
Plus, they almost always have some sort of tea cookies like Danish butter cookies, shortbread, macaroons, and ginger cookies. While shopping, be sure to check out their specialty products, especially their European chocolates and chocolate truffles, cheeses, and dips or sauces. Nuts, crackers, and fresh vegetables and fruits are also great choices for a tea party. I think I could probably plan an entire tea party around Aldi products–something I might try to do one day and report back to you here!
Buy Tea Sachets Instead of Loose Tea
If you don’t have a personal stash of loose leaf tea (like me), or time to order such tea, simply offer a selection of tea bags to your guests with teapots of hot water.
This past weekend, I found cannisters of Harney and Son’s tea sachets for as little as $2, which is an amazing price for 20 sachets. And you will almost always be able to find brands such as Twinings of London, TAZO, or Bigelow tea at a local store. Certainly, there are many options available for last-minute planning.
I hope you have enjoyed this post on planning an Easter Tea Party, and that it has given you inspiration and ideas for hosting your own. After all, it’s not too late. There’s always time for tea!
See more Tea Party Ideas Here. Browse Tea Party Recipes Here. View Easter Dinner Menu Ideas Here.
“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.”
~ William Ewart Gladstone
